Dry Powder kicks off 4-year-old campaign in Barbara Fritchie
Call Me Fast seeks fourth straight in Post Time
Complexity Jane favored in Nellie Morse

LAUREL, MD—Paul Berube, Karen Linnell, and Heather Hunter’s Quint’s Brew returns to Laurel Park to defend his General George Stakes title in Saturday’s $200,000 listed race for 4-year-olds and older, run over seven furlongs.

The General George is one of four stakes on the ten-race card, which also features the $200,000 Barbara Fritchie for fillies and mares at seven furlongs, the $100,000 Post Time for 4-year-olds and up at 1 1/8 miles, and the $100,000 Nellie Morse for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles. First post is 12:00 pm ET, and there are two “Value Pick 5” wagers, each with a low 12% takeout.

In addition, Laurel Park hosts the “Last Chance, First Chance Handicapping Tournament,” a one-day hybrid handicapping contest held on-site at Laurel Park or online through Xpressbet and TVG/4NJBETS. The $500 contest ($250 entry fee, $250 bankroll) offers Win, Place, Show, Exacta, and/or Daily Double wagering on the entire card of live races at Laurel Park. Contestants must play at least five (5) contest races, with a $50 minimum bet per race. Wagers below the $50 minimum are allowed, provided that, at the end of the contest, the player has the requisite minimum of 5 races at $50 apiece. For full contest rules and sign-up information, please click here.

Trained by Ned Allard, Quint’s Brew, a 5-year-old Maryland-bred gelding by Mosler, has never finished outside the exacta in his nine previous starts. He burst onto the scene early in 2025, capturing the restricted Jennings Stakes by eight lengths and later scoring a popular victory in the General George.

Those two stalwart efforts convinced Allard to seek tougher competition in New York, and Quint’s Brew responded with close second-place finishes in both the Grade 2 Carter Stakes and the Grade 3 Westchester Stakes.

Following the May 4 Westchester, Quint’s Brew went on the shelf for the summer.

“We had a minor issue, but we decided to give him a little time off because he had run very hard,” Allard said before Quint’s Brew’s return race, the Howard and Sondra Bender Memorial Stakes at Laurel on December 20.

Quint’s Brew ran gallantly despite the layoff, finishing second in the Howard and Sondra Bender Memorial.

“That was the worst racing luck I’ve had in a long time,” Allard said. “He was sitting behind the three top horses, and when we looked to swing around them at the half-mile pole, we had nowhere to go for nearly a quarter to three-eighths of a mile. The rider had to worry about clipping heels. He had a ton of horse. I think I ran the best horse, but the best horse doesn’t always win.”

Quint’s Brew worked hard in the 2026 edition of the Jennings, settling behind the early leaders before tipping to the outside under jockey Yedsit Hazlewood. After swapping back to his left lead in mid-stretch, Quint’s Brew gamely pipped Blue Kingdom at the wire.

“That was a good effort,” Allard said in the winner’s circle. “He bobbled a little today, but it probably worked to his advantage.”

Quint’s Brew completed his preparations for this year’s General George, breezing five furlongs in 1:02 at his Delaware base last Saturday.

“We’ve had a bout of really lousy weather,” Allard said on Wednesday morning. “We haven’t missed any training, but we’ve had days when we had to go a little easy. Everybody’s in the same boat. There’s nobody in this area that’s had any better luck than Delaware Park, as far as [Parx] or Laurel. He breezed real well for this race. He’s looking good. He’s feeling good. Now, he just has to get the job done.”

Horse Racing Nation’s Ed DeRosa named Quint’s Brew the 9/5 morning-line favorite.

After a disappointing effort, finishing fifth in the Howard and Sondra Bender Memorial, DEA Thoroughbred Racing’s Blue Kingdom returned to form with an excellent try in the Jennings.

Tutored by Jamie Ness, the 5-year-old Maryland-bred by First Mondays led early, yielded the lead on the backstretch, re-engaged on the turn, and was kicked down by Quint’s Brew. He has posted Beyer Speed Figures of 92 or higher in four of his last five races, run at distances from seven furlongs to 1 1/8 miles.

“We just came up a last jump short,” Ness said about the Jennings.

Blue Kingdom drew the rail under Mychel Sanchez, but that doesn’t necessarily force the speedy horse’s hand.

“Last time, we took a little hold of this horse, and I think he liked to pass a horse,” Ness said. “[The rail] is never ideal, but I got a smart rider. He’s going to figure it out from there. We had a good workout last week. We snuck one in between all this crappy weather.”

Bush Racing Stable’s Point Dume worked hard every step of the way to win the Fire Plug Overnight Handicap, a 6 ½-furlong race at Laurel on January 17.

It was an emotional scene as the 5-year-old Into Mischief gelding returned to the winner’s circle.

Bryan Bushey of Bush Racing was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer in spring 2024 and was given less than six months to live.

“He doesn't give up,” Bushey said. “That's one thing that's important to this horse. That's like me. I'm not giving up."

Trainer Tim Kreiser claimed Point Dume for $40,000 after a runner-up finish at Penn National on July 4. Four starts later, he won the M.P. Ballezzi Appreciation Mile at Parx over two turns.

“He wants to win,” said Bushey’s son, David. “He’s just a cool horse. Maybe he’s a sprinter. We thought he could go long, but maybe this is his game.”

Eric Rizer’s Slam Notion enters the General George in razor-sharp form, having won four of his last five starts, including the restricted Maryland Million Sprint on October 11 and the Howard and Sondra Bender Memorial.

Slam Notion, a 4-year-old Maryland-bred gelding by Great Notion, is trained by Robbie Bailes and will be ridden by Jevian Toledo.

“Every time he runs, he keeps getting better and better,” Toledo told The Maryland Jockey Club’s Mackenzie Pfeiffer in a video interview. “He’ll do whatever you want. You ask him to slow down, and he’ll slow down. You ask him to pick it up, and he’ll pick it up.”

James Wolf’s Petingas Twin nipped the solid Prince of Jericho to win the open Dave’s Friend Stakes at six furlongs on November 22, then rallied to third as the beaten favorite in the Fire Plug Overnight.

Stakes-placed performers On the Mark and Freeze the Fire complete the field.

The race is named for General George Washington, the first President of the United States and the Commanding General of the American Revolutionary Army.

Firenze Fire, Imperial Hint, Bustin Stones, Silver Wagon, Peeping Tom, and Affirmed Success are among the Grade 1 winners who prevailed in prior editions of the General George.

*Dry Powder kicks off 4-year-old campaign in Barbara Fritchie

In a stretch of seven races over a little more than seven months, Gold Square LLC’s Dry Powder went from an unraced filly to a horse that had earned a berth in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Distaff.

“We had her up at Saratoga as a 2-year-old, and I loved her,” said trainer Chad Summers. “She was a big filly, and I thought she was too big for her own good. I didn’t want to push her. We sent her down, sound and healthy, and gave her 60 days off in Ocala after Saratoga. She rewarded us with a very nice campaign as a 3-year-old.”

Dry Powder, a Gun Runner filly, finished a close second in the restricted Wilton Stakes at Aqueduct on June 22 and then was a well-beaten third in the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga.

She broke through with a big effort in Parx’s Cathryn Sophia Stakes on August 19, winning by 4 ¼ lengths.

“That’s the race we like seeing from her,” Summers said. “In a stalking position. We don’t want her to be in front. It kept setting up that she had taken the lead, one way or another. For us, that was the trip we envisioned.”

Dry Powder proved the Cathryn Sophia effort was no fluke by finishing second, a neck behind, in Parx’s Grade 1 Cotillion Stakes on September 20.

“She shied for a second [from another rider’s whip], and that probably cost her the win,” said Summers.

Dry Powder concluded her 3-year-old campaign with an eighth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff.

While the horses in the Mid-Atlantic region have battled Old Man Winter during training, Dry Powder wintered at the Palm Meadows Training Center in Florida.

“We gave her 45 days off after the Breeders’ Cup,” Summers explained. “She got a little bigger and a little stronger. There was a purpose to looking at the Barbara Fritchie, given the weather. As a trainer, I know how important rhythms are for horses, especially stakes horses. You like to keep things in routine.”

Dry Powder is DeRosa’s 5/2 second choice on the Barbara Fritchie morning line.

Favored at 9/5 is Kasey K Racing Stable, Michael Day, and Final Turn Racing Stable’s Takethemoneyhoney, who has compiled a record of six wins and two seconds in eight starts for trainer Michael Moore.

Takethemoneyhoney, a 5-year-old Maryland-bred by Golden Lad, was an authoritative 6 ¼-length winner of the restricted Geisha Stakes, run at one mile at Laurel on January 17.

“I guess we’re running against a little tougher competition,” Moore admitted. “She probably looks like the favorite in there. Hopefully, she shows up with the same level of effort, and that makes her the horse to beat.”

Takethemoneyhoney is based at Parx, but Moore isn’t too concerned about a potential lack of fitness due to abbreviated training.

“Race-wise, she’s been on a pretty consistent schedule, which helps,” he said. “She’s the type of filly we don’t have to do much with between races. It’s been a little tough to train regularly, but it was good to get the breeze [five-eighths on February 4] into her. I think she should be good.”

Stakes-winning Hold Your Breath, turf stakes-winning On Command, and stakes-placed mares Backstretch Rose, Bolt Enoree, and Juba’s Parade also entered, along with seven-time winner Passage East, who has never been off the board in 13 starts.

The race is named after patriot Barbara Fritchie, who defiantly flew the American flag during the Civil War despite a Confederate advance.

Hall of Famer Xtra Heat captured two consecutive Barbara Fritchie editions.

*Call Me Fast seeks fourth straight win in Post Time

Ness wasn’t sure what he was getting when Madison Avenue Racing Stable and Morris Kernan Jr. claimed Call Me Fast for $50,000 on July 5.

“The day we claimed him, he walked across the wire,” Ness said. “We were hoping for a voided claim, but sometimes things turn out the right way.”

Saddled by Ilkay Kantarmaci for his first two starts under this ownership group, Call Me Fast was transferred to Ness at Parx, where he recorded three wins in four starts, including his last three races, two of which were against stakes competition.

“He was always on my radar,” Ness said of the multiple Grade 3-placed 7-year-old gelding by Dialed In. “He had a lot of back class, back numbers, and back stakes. Better to be a has-been than a never-was. He got his form back. He had a really good workout the other day. We’re coming in pretty confident.”

DeRosa named Call Me Fast the morning-line favorite at 3/2.

Warp Nine earned a career-high 96 Beyer Speed Figure in his most recent start, a high-level allowance at Parx on January 14. He is a proven commodity at Laurel, where he won an allowance race on October 24.

Owned by Alaricorns, Warp Nine is a 5-year-old by Hightail.

“We claimed him from Kenny McPeek for $30,000,” trainer Harold Wyner said after his Laurel victory. “I watched him train. He was a big, nice-looking, sound horse. I brought him back to Parx, and he excelled.”

Silver Trail Stables’ Otter Mischief finished second in the City of Laurel Stakes for 3-year-olds racing seven furlongs on November 29, then again finished second, this time to Warp Nine, in the allowance at Parx. Stretching out to 1 1/8 miles for the first time, he is projected as the controlling speed for trainer Guadalupe Preciado.

Multiple Grade 3-placed synthetic performer Jokestar and multiple stakes-placed Surfside Moon are also expected.

Cadet Corps will scratch, according to trainer Kelly Breen.

This is the inaugural running of the Post Time Stakes. Formerly known as the John B. Campbell Stakes, it was renamed to honor the popular Maryland-bred Grade 2 winner who also finished second in several Grade 1 races, including the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. Post Time stands his first season at stud in 2026 at Northview Stallion Station in Maryland.

*Complexity Jane favored in Nellie Morse

Golden Lion Racing’s Complexity Jane attempts a stakes hat trick, starting as the likely favorite in the Nellie Morse Stakes.

Complexity Jane, listed at 8/5 on DeRosa’s line, returned from a summer vacation in fine fettle, capturing the Thirty Eight Go Go Stakes on November 9 and winning the Carousel Stakes on December 20.

“She's just like a silent assassin,” jockey Sheldon Russell said after the notoriously quirky Complexity Jane bested Late Nite Call by a neck in the Carousel. “She does everything right on plan, then she just comes out with her tricks. As long as she keeps running and winning, we'll put up with it.”

Russell is back in the saddle for his wife, trainer Brittany Russell. Complexity Jane drew post 7.

Brittany Russell also sends out Joel Politi’s Sultry Lass, who finished sixth in the Carousel while trained by Tom Amoss. A 7-year-old mare by Bernardini, Sultry Lass is seeking her first stakes victory. Toledo rides from the inside post.

After finishing a close second to Complexity Jane in the 1 1/8-mile Carousel, Richard Harris’ Late Nite Call then chased Takethemoneyhoney in vain when third in the one-mile Geisha. Trainer Niall Saville believes his filly is more effective around two turns and should appreciate a return to 1 1/16 miles.

David Raim’s The Sky Is Falling rallied to finish third in the Carousel. The West Virginia-bred mare, a 13-time winner, is trained by Jeff Runco.

Stakes-winning Kissedbyanangel, multiple stakes-placed Doctor Abbie, stakes-placed Navani, and Atlantis Queen also entered the Nellie Morse.

The Nellie Morse is named after the filly best known for winning the Pimlico Oaks (now the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes) and the Preakness, which were held just three days apart in 1924.